Toy gun



March 9, 1943;

A. N. SMITH ET'AL 2,313,400

TOY GUN Filed Nov. 8, 1941 HON R ITH JOHN BONNE T 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 9, 1943 UNITED TOY GUN Application November 8, 1941, Serial No. 418,351

12 Claims.

This invention relates to toy guns, and more particularly to a toy anti-aircraft gun.

The primary object of our invention is to generally improve toy guns. A more particular object is to provide a simulated rapid fire gun having an ejector mechanism operated by a con.- tinuously rotatable shaft. A further object is to improve the ejector mechanism with a view to making the same simple, inexpensive, forceful, and dependable in operation.

In accordance with a further feature and object of the invention, the shaft of the ejector mechanism is preferably coaxial with and may even act as the trunnions for mounting the gun. The shaft is driven from a point outside the gun, in simplest form by the provision of a crank at one end of the shaft. When using a common axis for the shaft and the trunnions, there is no interference with the desired external drive of the shaft while changing the elevation of the gun.

Another object of the present invention is to simulate an anti-aircraft gun, and to permit a high angle of elevation. However, for simplicity, the shells are preferably fed gravitationally from a magazine into the breech portion of the gun, and the gun is preferably provided with motionlimiting means to limit the elevation of the gun to an angle at which the projectiles will still feed gravitationall from the magazine into the gun.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing objects and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, our invention consists in the toy gun elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification, and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a toy gun embodying features of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a section through the shells in the magazine, with the gun barrel removed from the gun body;

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately in the plane of the line 44 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the breech portion of the gun with one side of the gun body removed to expose the mechanism of the gun;

Fig. 6 is a section through the breech portion of the gun, and shows the relation of the parts as the ejector spring begins to be tensioned;

Fig. '1 is a similar view but shows the relation of the parts when the ejector spring has been almost completely tensioned;

Fig. 8 is a similar view but shows the relation of the parts as the ejector spring is released and expels a projectile from the gun;

Fig. 9 is a section taken transversely of the crank shaft through the ejector spring housing;

Fig. 10 is a section through the ejector spring housing taken approximately in theplane of the line li3lil of Fig. 9, but with the parts of the housing disassembled;

Fig. 11 is drawn to enlarged scale to illustrate the method of fixing the ejector spring housing on the crank shaft; and

Fig. 12 shows the opposite side at the upper end of the gun mount, and is explanatory of the method of assembly of the gun.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Figs. 1. and 2,'the toy simulates an antiaircraft gun, and comprises a guide tube or barrel [2, the breech end of which is housed within a housing [4. The housing and barrel are both open at the top, and a magazine 16 for projectiles I8 is disposed over the open breech portion of the gun to gravitationally feed the projectiles to the gun. The resulting gun body is pivotally mounted on simulated trunnions 23 between generally upright supports 22. To complete thegun mount, these supports are carried on a horizontal disc 24, rotatably mounted on a stationary base 26, preferably by means of a bolt and nut 28. j The latter permits aiming of the gun in azimuth, while the trunnions afford elevation of the gun. I

The trunnions 2i} preferably coincide with a drive shaft for the ejector mechanism of the gun. This shaft is externally driven by suitable means, here exemplified simply by a crank 30 formed by appropriately bending the shaft .20. Because the trunnions and the drive shaft 20 are coaxial, there is no interference with rotation-of shaft 28 when the elevation of the gun is bein changed to follow a target.

The operation of the ejector mechanism may be described with reference to Figs. 5 through 8 of the drawing. An ejector finger 32 (Figs. 4 and 8) is movablethrough a slot 34 (Fig. 3) :cut longitudinally through the bottom of the breech portion of barrel l2. In moving through the slot 34, the finger 32 bears against the rear end of the lowermost projectile 35, thereby expelling the projectile as shown in Fig. 8. The propulsion of the projectile is not dependent on the speed of rotation of the handle and shaft. Instead, a high speed action is obtained by first tensioning and then releasing a spring. For this purpose, the ejector finger 32preferably: constitutes the outer 01' free end of a spirally wound spring, best shown in Fig. 9 of the drawing. The inner end 38 of the spring is bent to form a hook, and is received over an anchor lug 4B. The coils of the spiral spring 42 are preferably housed between side walls 44. A lug 46 may be bent inwardly from one of the side walls, thus completing the spring housing and confining the spring to the desired spiral configuration.

Reverting now to Figs. 5 through 8 of the drawing, the shaft 29 is first turned by crank 30 from the position shown in Fig. 5, to that shown in Fig. 6, at which time the ejector finger or ejector spring 32 reaches and bears against a stop wall 48 (Fig. 6), thereby arresting further movement of the ejector spring, even though Referring to Fig. 10, the spring housing is made up of a hub 58, the smaller diameter end portions of which are received in holes 60 cut through the side discs 44 of the housing. The discs 44 may be identical, so that a single die may be used to punch and form both discs. The inwardly bent lug on one of the discs acts as the anchor lug for the inner end of the ejector spring, while the corresponding lug on the other disc acts as the ratchet lug for cooperation with the leaf spring 52. The inwardly bent lug 16 acts to limit uncoiling of the spring. The

corresponding lug 62 serves no useful function,

rotation of crank 30 is continued, as for example from the solid line position 38 :to the broken line position 30' in Fig. 6. During this continued movement, the inner end of the spring is moved from the solid :line position 48 to the broken line position '49, thus beginning the desired tensioning of thesp'ring.

Referring 'now :to Fig. 7, when the crank is moved to the'position '30, the inner end of the ejector spring ismoved to the brokenlin'e position 40'. h'szthe'crank 'isturned, it reaches the solid .line position '30, :atwhich time the inner end of the spring is turned .to the'solid line position M1. The inner end :of the "spring has now been'turned through three-fourths or more of a revolution, and the spring has been thoroughly tensioned. Theend :32 has been gradually drawn downwardly by the "closing .of the coils of "the spring, and is now 'barelyrrestrain'ed by stop wall 48.

In Fig. 8, the handle .30 has moved slightly further, leading to release of the'eje'ctor spring from stop wall &8. TheJfiriger '39 flies with extreme rapidity through the successive positions I32, 32,32", and 32"". During this' unc'oilingof the spring, the projectile 1is':'accelerated to the desired velocity. The projectile is preferably made of wood and is light in weight'and therefore harmless.

It will be noted that the 'fin'al position of the parts in Fig-'8 corresponds to the initial position of the parts in Fig. '5, except, of course, that the ejection of the lowermost'projectile '36 in Fig. 8 clears the breech of the gun for gravitational feed of the remaining projectiles downwardly, thus promptly supplying the gun with another projectile. operating cycle is continuously repeated as the handle 30 is rotated, until the supply of projectiles is exhausted.

When the spring "is tensioned, the coils are drawn to smaller diameter, and leave the housing lug '46 (Fig. 9) previouslyreferred to. When'the tenSioned spring is unleashed, the expansion of the coils is arrested at about the point 32 in Fig. 8, because the outermost coil strikes the housing 1ug 45, as shown in Fig. 9. This produces a percussive noise for each firing of the gun, thus heightening the realism of 'the'gun.

Withejector mech'anismof the character here disclosed, it isdesirable to guard against reverse rotation of 'the shaft 20. For this purpose, the ejector spring housing may be provided with a ratcheting 53 (see Figs. 4 and 10) A leaf spring 52 is secured to thegun body at its rear end 54 '(Fig. 7-), while its free forward end 56 bears against -'the side of the spring housing 52 (see Fig. 4 Spring '52 acts as a dog cooperating with ratchet lug 50, and thus prevents reverse rotation of the mechanism.

but isprovided merely so that a common die may 1'beusedior'both sides-of the housing. The large- .diameter central portion of hub 58 acts as a spacer to properly space the sides 44 an amount somewhat greater .than the width of the ribbonlike ejector spring.

In order to insure rotation of hub 58 with shaft 20, the center portion of the latter iSQ-preferably splined by indenting the shaft, as'is indicated in Fig. 11, thereby expanding the metal of the shaft between indentations. The hub -58 is :preferably made 'of a relatively softer metal, and is driven with aiorce fit'onto shaft 20. Similarly, the holes through discs 34 are preferably octagonal in shape, and are driven with a force fit over the ends/of hub-58, which then acquire a mating octagonal shape, shown in Fig. 11. The projectingends of the hub are thenstruck inwardly in a suitable die in order to rivet the discs 44 on hub 58. The assembly of discs 44 and hub 58 is preferably completed before :applying the hubto shaft 20. In Fig. 11, the dis'cs 44 are assumed removed from the hub.

The magazine 16 for the projectiles preferably comprises a pieceof heavy wire bent to inverted U -shape. As is best shown in Fig. 3, the upper end 64 is curved on a radius large enough to receive the cylindrical projectiles I8, while the parallel legs 66 therebeneath are disposed somewhatcloser together and are dimensioned to fit in annular-grooves 68 ('Figs. 3 and 7) on the projectiles. The lower ends 16 of the legs are bent outwardly enough to clear the lowermost projectile 36 at the breech portion of the gun. The ends of the legs may be received in perforations through e'ars 12 (Fig. 3) bent outwardly from the barrel 12. t will be understood that the top of the barrel is cut away at the'breech'portion, as is "indicated at T4 in Figs. 5 'and '6, and that the ears -12 may be formed from some 0 the resulting waste material.

The top wall M (Fig. 4) of gun body f4 is also cut away at the top to permit free passage :of the projectiles to the guide tube. The side edges of the resulting slot are preferably notched 'or recessed at 16 to receive the'legs '66 of the magazine, thereby holding the same in the desired upright position. It maybe pointed out that the magazine, when empty, is readily removable from the gun by squeezing the legs of the magazine together somewhat while withdrawing the same upwardly from the gun. This is of great convenience for more compact packaging o-f "the gun during shipment and sale.

The gun body comprises the barrel or guide tube !2, the breech portion I4, and an internal spacer member '18, best shown in Figs. 5 through 8. The guide tube i2 is preferably made of a single piece of sheet metal, which is bent downwardly to a seam at the bottom. The breech portion f4 is preferably made of two oppositely dished pieces of sheet metal, which are brought together in edge to edge relation around the guide tube l2. This portion of the gun body may be appropriately shaped and lithographed to simulate the recoil mechanism, controls, and

other accessory elements of a real anti-aircraft gun. The spacer member 18 consists of a single piece of sheet metal bent to form the stop wall 48 previously referred to, a horizontal wall 89 disposed directly over the rear end of guide tube l2, and a vertical wall 82. Stop wall 48 and the lower end of wall 82 are both provided with sidewardly projecting tongues. These tongues pass through mating slots in walls I4, thus anchoring the walls together as well as properly spacing the same apart.

One of the tongues on wall 82 functions to hold the leaf spring 52 in position by passing through a slot 84 in said spring (see Fig. 7). A

. part of the material of the guide tube is turned outwardly at its rear end, as is best shown in Fig. 3, and the resulting sidewardly projecting parts are provided with tongues 86, which are also received in mating slots in side walls I4, thereby fixing the position of the rear end of the guide tube. The sides M are additionally held together by tongues 88 and 99 (Fig. which are passed through slotted washers 92 (Fig. 2) and bent sidewardly, in accordance with known practice in the toy art.

The gun mount is made of two main parts. One is the circular base 29, which is preferably shaped from exceptionally heavy gauge sheet metal, thus providing a weighty base in order to give the gun desired stability. A circle of tiny projections or dots may be struck upwardly on the base, as is indicated at 94, and it is on these that the disks 24 of the rotatable part of the gun mount rests. The latter is formed of a single piece of sheet metal the center portion 24 of which is approximately circular, while the side supports 22 are bent upwardly from center portion 24. The part 24 and the base 26 are preferably detachably secured together by means of a threaded screw and nut 28 so that the base may be separated from the remainder of the gun mount when packaging the toy. With this arrangement, the base is disposed vertically alongside the gun, so that the package may be small in horizontal direction and large enough in vertical direction to receive both the gun and the relatively large-diameter, but then verticallydisposed, base.

One side of the gun mount is perforated to receive the free end of the crank shaft. The opposite side is slotted, as indicated at 96 in Fig. 12, thus making it possible to assemble the gun body into the mount despite the presence of the crank 39. To hold the crank shaft at the inner end of slot 96 a lug 98 (Fig. 1) is struck outwardly from the side of the gun body and bent around the curved edge H30 of the .gun'mount. A similar lug I02 (Fig. 2) is preferabl struck outwardly from the gun body and bent around the curved surface I94 of the gun mount. The circularly curved surfaces I09 and I94 are preferably terminated at the top by stops I99. These limit the maximum elevation of the gun to an angle such that the projectiles l8 are still successfully fed downwardly into the gun solely by gravitational attraction. The fit of the projectiles in the magazine is preferably made a relatively free and frictionless one in order not to interfere with free feed of the projectiles. A predetermined termination of the curved surfaces at the bottom is also desirable in order to prevent lowering of the gun to a downward angle so great as to cause sliding of the projectiles out of the gun even before rotation of the drive shaft.

It is believed that the construction, method of assembly,'and operation of our improved toy gun, as well as the advantages of the same, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will also be apparent that while We have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel, a magazine for feeding toy projectiles to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the guide tube at the breach portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun, means to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of a projectile in the guide tube, the intermediate portion of the spring being coiled about the shaft for several convolutions, and a stop wall rearwardly of the projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop wall as the shaft is rotated to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile.

2. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel the breech portion of which is open at the top, a magazine disposed over the open breech'portion of the gun for feeding toy projectiles gravitationally downward to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the bottom of the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun beneath the breech portion, means to rotate said shaft, two spaced housing discs on said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of the lowermost projectile, the intermediate portion of the spring being coiled about the shaft for several convolutions which are confined between the aforesaid housing discs, and a stop wall behind the lowermost projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop Wall as the shaft is rotated to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile.

3. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel the breech portion of which is open at the top, a magazine disposed over the open breech portion of the gun for feeding toy projectiles gravitationally downward to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the bottom of the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of w an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun beneath the breech portion, a crank to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of the lowermost projectile, the intermediate portion of the spring being coiled about the shaft for several convolutions,

and a stop wall in the breech portion of the guide tube behind the lowermost projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively pro-' portioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop wall while the shaft is rotated through nearly a complete revolution to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile.

4. A toy gun as defined in claim 1, in which the shaft is provided with spring housing discs secured to the shaft at the sides of the ejector spring, said discs having an anchor lug to which the inner end of the ejector spring is secured, and a housing lug for confining the coils of the spring when the spring is released.

5. A toy gun as defined in claim 2, in which the body of the gun is shaped to simulate an anti-aircraft gun, and is provided with motionlimiting stop means to limit the elevation of the gun to an angle at which the projectiles will feed gravitationally from the magazine into the gun.

6. A toy gun as defined in claim 2, in which the magazine is readily detachable from the gun for more compact packaging of the same.

7. A toy gun as defined in claim 2, in which the magazine consists of a piece of heavy bent wire of inverted U-shape, the upper end being curved on a radius large enough to receive cylindrical projectiles for use in the gun, the parallel legs therebeneath being disposed somewhat closer together and dimensioned to fit in annular grooves on the projectiles, the lower ends of the legs being bent outwardly enough to clear the projectiles at the breech portion of the guide tube, the latter having outwardly projecting ears perforated to detachably receive the lower ends of the magazine guide wire, whereby said wire is readily detachable from the gun for more compact packaging of the same.

8. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel, a magazine for feeding toy projectiles to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun, means to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of a projectile in the guide tube, a stop .wall rearwardly of the projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop wall as the shaft is rotated to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile, spring housing discs secured to the shaft at th sides of th ejector spring, and a ratchet lug on the outside of one of the discs, the body of said gun being provided with a dog cooperating with the aforesaid ratchet lug to prevent reverse rotation of the shaft.

9. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel, a magazine for feeding toy projectiles to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun, means to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against'the rear end of a projectile in the guide tube, a stop wall rearwardly of the projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop wall as the shaft is rotated to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile, spring housing discs secured to the shaft at the sides of the ejector spring, said discs having an anchor lug to which the inner end of the ejector spring is secured, a housing lug for confining the coils of the spring when the spring is released, and a ratchet lug on the outside of one of the discs, the body of said gun being provided with a leaf spring bearing against said disc and acting as a dog cooperating with the aforesaid ratchet lug to prevent reverse rotation of the shaft.

10. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel, a magazine for feeding toy projectiles to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun, means to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring th inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of a projectile in the guide tube, a stop wall rearwardly of the projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of the end of the ejector spring is arrested by the stop wall as the shaft is rotated to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile, the aforesaid shaft acting also as trunnions for supporting the gun body and affording elevation of the gun body without interfering with rotation of the shaft by means located outside the gun body.

11. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel the breech portion of which is open at the top, a magazine disposed over the open breech portion of the gun forfeeding toy projectiles gravitationally downward to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the bottom of the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of th gun beneath the breech portion, a crank to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dimensioned for movement through the aforesaid slot against the rear end of the lowermost projectile, a stop wall in the breech portion of the guide tube behind the lowermost projectile, said stop wall and ejector spring being so relatively proportioned and positioned that movement of th end of the ejector spring is arested by the stop wall While the shaft is rotated through nearly a complete revolution to tension the spring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile, supports for said gun, said crank shaft passing through said supports and acting also as trunnions for elevation of the gun, and motion-limiting stops to limit the elevation of the gun to an angle at which the projectiles will feed gravitationally from the magazine into the gun.

12. A toy rapid-firing gun comprising a guide tube or barrel the breech portion of which is open at the top, a magazine disposed over the open breech portion of the gun for feeding toy projectiles gravitationally downward to the guide tube, a longitudinal slot in the bottom of the guide tube at the breech portion for passage of an ejector spring, a shaft extending transversely of the gun beneath the breech portion, a crank to rotate said shaft, a spirally coiled ejector spring the inner end of which is secured to the shaft, and the outer end of which is dispring, whereupon the spring escapes from the stop wall and ejects the projectile, the body of the gun being shaped to simulate an anti-aircraft gun, and a relatively large circular base rotatably carrying upright supports for the gun, the aforesaid crank shaft passing through said supports and acting also as trunnions for elevation of the gun, said supports and gun being provided with motion-limiting stop means to limit the elevation of the gun to an angle at which the projectiles will still feed gravitationally from the magazine into the gun.

ANTHONY N. SMITH. JOHN BONNETT. 

